Portable electronic device

ABSTRACT

One embodiment of the portable electronic device according to the present invention includes a housing provided with a camera  6  to enable image capture. In the housing, arranged are a pressure sensor  5  for detecting that the housing is in a submerged state, a speaker  3  for emitting shutter sound at the time of photographing using the camera  6 , and a control circuit  1  for controlling an operation of the speaker  3 . When the pressure sensor  5  detects that the housing is in the submerged state, the control circuit  1  increases volume of the shutter sound emitted from the speaker  3.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the U.S. National Stage application of PCTapplication PCT/JP2008/067478 filed on Sep. 26, 2008, which claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No.2007-250759 filed on Sep. 27, 2007, and the contents of each of theseapplications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to portable electronic devices having aphotographing function, such as a portable telephone with camera,digital camera, or the like.

BACKGROUND

In recent years a portable telephone includes a small housing providedwith a camera, and is capable of not only telephonic communication butalso photographing using the camera.

Also, to the portable telephone, applied is a waterproofing measurewhich provides enough function in daily use situation and, in somecases, provides a waterproofing effect even at a depth of about one toseveral meters, and therefore, some portable telephones with camera canphotograph in water.

Meanwhile, it has been proposed that when a photographing environment ofa digital camera changes from on the land to underwater a photographingcondition suitable for underwater photography is set automatically.

This also enables underwater photography with a high image quality by aportable telephone with camera by automatically setting thephotographing condition suitable for underwater photography when thephotographing environment changes from on the land to underwater.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, since third person is hard to notice that photographing isconducted in water with the portable telephone with camera or digitalcamera, surreptitious photographing might be possible.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a portableelectronic device which can prevent misuse thereof such as surreptitiousphotographing in water effectively.

A portable electronic device according to the present invention includesa housing provided with a camera to enable image capture. The housingincludes a submergence detecting unit configured to detect that thehousing is in a submerged state, a unit configured to operate at thetime of photographing that emits sound or light at the time ofphotographing using the camera, and a control unit configured to controlan operation of the unit configured to operate at the time ofphotographing arranged therein. The device is characterized in that whenthe submergence detecting unit detects that the housing is in thesubmerged state, the control unit switches the unit configured tooperate at the time of photographing from a normal operation in anon-submerged state to a non-normal operation for notifying peoplearound of the photographing in the submerged state.

With the portable electronic device of the present invention describedabove, when it is detected that the housing is in the submerged state atthe time of photographing using the camera, the unit configured tooperate at the time of photographing is switched from the normaloperation in the non-submerged state to the non-normal operation fornotifying the people around of the photographing in the submerged state,and the people around are notified of the photographing in the submergedstate by means of a change in sound or light emitted from the unitconfigured to operate at the time of photographing. As a result, senseof discipline will come into play against conducting underwaterphotography for the purpose of surreptitious photographing.

Also, a portable electronic device according to the present inventionincludes a housing provided with a camera to enable image capture. Thehousing includes a submergence detecting unit configured to detect thatthe housing is in a submerged state, a unit configured to operate at thetime of photographing that emits sound or light at the time ofphotographing using the camera, and a control unit configured to controlan operation of the unit configured to operate at the time ofphotographing arranged therein. The device is characterized in that whenthe submergence detecting unit detects that the housing is in thesubmerged state and a ratio of flesh-color part in a photographicsubject exceeds a predetermined value, the control unit switches theunit configured to operate at the time of photographing from a normaloperation in a non-submerged state to a non-normal operation fornotifying people around of the photographing in the submerged state.

With the portable electronic device of the present invention describedabove, when it is detected that the housing is in the submerged state atthe time of photographing using the camera and the ratio of flesh-colorpart in the photographic subject exceeds the predetermined value, theunit configured to operate at the time of photographing is switched fromthe normal operation in the non-submerged state to the non-normaloperation for notifying the people around of the photographing in thesubmerged state.

Therefore, in the case of photographing a person in water, the unitconfigured to operate at the time of photographing is switched from thenormal operation to the non-normal operation, and the people around arenotified of the photographing in the submerged state by means of achange in sound or light emitted from the unit configured to operate atthe time of photographing. As a result, sense of discipline will comeinto play against conducting underwater photography for the purpose ofsurreptitious photographing.

In a particular configuration, the unit configured to operate at thetime of photographing is a speaker which emits sound at the time ofphotographing using the camera.

The control unit makes shutter sound generated from the speaker at thetime of photographing using the camera, and sets greater sound volume inthe non-normal operation than in the normal operation.

Alternatively, the control unit makes voice announcing the photographinggenerated from the speaker at the time of photographing using the camerain the submerged state.

With this particular configuration, at the time of photographing inwater, the very loud shutter sound or the voice announcing thephotographing is generated from the speaker, and therefore, the peoplearound are notified of the photographing in the submerged state by meansof such sound.

In another particular configuration, the unit configured to operate atthe time of photographing is a flashlight to be emitted at the time ofphotographing using the camera.

The control unit forces the flashlight to be emitted in the non-normaloperation.

With this particular configuration, at the time of photographing inwater, the flashlight is forcibly emitted, and therefore, the peoplearound are notified of the photographing in the submerged state by meansof such light.

In a further particular configuration, a plurality of colors are set asthe flesh-color.

With this particular configuration, since the plurality of colors can beset as the flesh-color of the photographic subject, it is possible toaccurately detect whether or not photographing of a person has beenconducted, thereby enabling switching operation to the non-normaloperation more appropriately.

With the portable electronic device according to the present invention,at the time of photographing in the submerged state, the people aroundare notified of the photographing by means of sound or light, andtherefore, it is possible to effectively prevent misuse such assurreptitious photographing in water.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a portable telephone which is one embodimentof a portable electronic device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the portable telephone which is one embodimentof the portable electronic device according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for showing an electrical configuration of theportable telephone which is one embodiment of the portable electronicdevice according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a control procedure at the time ofphotographing of the portable telephone which is one embodiment of theportable electronic device according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment in which a portable electronic device according to thepresent invention is implemented in a portable telephone will bespecifically described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the portable telephone of the embodiment of theportable electronic device according to the present invention includes afoldable housing 12 provided with a display 4 and a plurality ofoperation keys 13 arranged therein. At an end portion of the housing 12,a pressure sensor 5 for detecting whether or not the housing 12 is in asubmerged state is installed at a slightly recessed position from asurface of the housing 12. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, a camera 6 and aflashlight 7 for photography are arranged on a rear surface of thehousing 12.

FIG. 3 shows an electrical configuration of the portable telephonedescribed above. To a control circuit 1 comprising a micro computer orthe like, connected are an antenna 2 for telephonic communication, aspeaker 3 which is to be a telephone receiver part, said display 4,pressure sensor 5, camera 6 and flashlight 7.

FIG. 4 shows a control procedure at the time of photographing of theportable telephone described above. The operation in each step shown inFIG. 4 is realized by collaboration of the control circuit 1 shown inFIG. 3 with a program stored in a memory or the like.

When a power supply is turned on, first in step S1, the camera isactivated, and in step S2, it is determined based on a detective signalof said pressure sensor 5 whether or not a state of the housing 12 is asubmerged state. If pressure detected by the pressure sensor 5 isatmospheric pressure, it is determined that the state of the housing 12is not the submerged state, while, if the pressure is higher than theatmospheric pressure, it is determined that the state of the housing 12is the submerged state.

If it is determined that the state of the housing 12 is not thesubmerged state in step S2, the flow proceeds to step S3, and a groundphotography mode is set. In particular, set is a photographing conditionsuitable for photography on the ground along with a normal shutter soundand flash operation that should be generated at the time ofphotographing on the ground. Thereafter, the flow proceeds to step S8,and a photographing operation is conducted.

In contrast, if it is determined that the state of the housing 12 is thesubmerged state in step S2, the flow proceeds to step S4, and a ratio Rof a flesh-color part in a photographic subject is calculated, and thenin step S5, it is determined whether or not the ratio R is equal to orlower than a predetermined value Rt. Here, the predetermined value Rt ispreviously set in proportion to the ratio of the flesh-color partobtained when photographing of a person.

If it is determined YES in step S5, the flow proceeds to step S6, and anormal underwater photography mode is set. In particular, set is aphotographing condition suitable for underwater photography along withgeneration of the shutter sound with normal volume and the flashoperation.

In contrast, if it is determined NO in step S5, the flow proceeds tostep S7, and a non-normal photography mode is set. In particular, set isa photographing condition suitable for underwater photography along withgeneration of the shutter sound with greater volume than normal andforced flash operation.

Thereafter, the flow proceeds to step S8, and the photographingoperation is conducted.

With the portable telephone described above, in the case where it isdetermined that it is underwater photography and the photographicsubject is a person, the shutter sound with greater volume than normalis generated and the flashlight is forcibly emitted to notify the peoplearound of the photographing in water. Therefore, it is possible toeffectively prevent misuse such as surreptitious photographing in water.

The present invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiment inconstruction but can be modified variously within the technical rangeset forth in the claims. For example, at the time of photographing inwater, not limited to both of the generation of the shutter sound withgreater volume than normal and the forced flash operation, it ispossible to set either one of the operations. Also, it is possible togenerate a voice announcing the photographing such as “Photographing hasbeen conducted” or the like instead of the generation of the shuttersound with greater volume than normal. Further, it is effective toemploy a sound or light having a wavelength which is propagated in waterwithout great attenuation for the sound or light to be generated at thetime of photographing in water.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the atmospheric pressure isused as a standard for determination of whether or not it is in thesubmerged state by the pressure sensor 5 in step S2 of FIG. 4. However,the portable electronic device according to the present invention is notlimited to such a configuration, and it is also possible to employ avalue other than the atmospheric pressure arbitrarily.

Moreover, in the embodiment described above, the ratio R of theflesh-color part in a photographic subject is calculated in step S4 ofFIG. 4. Here, the portable electronic device according to the presentinvention does not limit the flesh-color used in the calculation to aspecific color. That is, in step S4 shown in FIG. 4, the ratio R of theflesh-color part is calculated in order to detect that photographing ofa person is conducted. Therefore, it is possible to set any arbitrarycolor as said flesh-color based on each region, environment or the like.For example, it is possible to set an arbitrary color such as flesh,light orange, pale orange, peach or the like.

Further, with the portable electronic device according to the presentinvention, it is also possible to set a plurality of colors as saidflesh-color, for example. In such a case, it is possible to conduct moreappropriately the determination of whether or not photographing of aperson in the submerged state is being conducted.

Also, in the embodiment described above, the non-normal underwaterphotography mode (non-normal operation) is set in step S7 of FIG. 4. Theoperation in this non-normal underwater photography mode can be anyoperation as long as that notifies the people around of thephotographing in water. For example, operations such as a plurality offlash operations may be combined, and the operation is not limited tothe operations discussed in the embodiment described above.

In addition, the water where the portable electronic device according tothe present invention is submerged is not limited to a particular water,and it may be any water such as in a bath, a swimming pool, a river, thesea or the like.

Furthermore, with the portable electronic device according to thepresent invention, the submerged state is not limited to a state wherethe entire housing is in water, but includes a state where a part of thehousing is in water.

Further, in the embodiment described above, it is determined whether ornot it is in the submerged state based on the pressure detected by thepressure sensor. However, in the portable electronic device according tothe present invention, not limited to the submergence detecting unitsuch as the pressure sensor, another arbitrary submergence detectingunit may be employed such as, for example, a sensor for detecting achange in an electrical continuity state due to submergence, a unitconfigured to detect a change in characteristics of a material whosecharacteristics change due to submergence (for example, a unitconfigured to detect a change in reflectivity of a material used becausethe optical reflectivity thereof changes due to submergence) or thelike.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the ratio R of theflesh-color part in a photographic subject is calculated in step S4 andstep S5 shown in FIG. 4. However, in the portable electronic deviceaccording to the present invention, it is also possible to omit such aprocess of calculating the ratio of the flesh-color part. That is, it ispossible that the portable electronic device according to the presentinvention detects the submerged state in step S2, and thereafter, theflow proceeds to the non-normal underwater photography mode in step S7shown in FIG. 4, skipping step S4 and step S5.

The disclosure of Japanese application Number 2007-250759, upon whichthe present application is based for claiming priority, is incorporatedin the disclosure of the present application by reference.

1. A portable electronic device including a housing provided with acamera to enable image capture, the housing including a submergencedetecting unit configured to detect that the housing is in a submergedstate, an operation unit configured to operate at the time ofphotographing that emits sound or visible light at the time ofphotographing using the camera, and a control unit configured to controlan operation of the unit configured to operate at the time ofphotographing, the portable electronic device being characterized inthat: when the submergence detecting unit detects at said time ofphotographing using the camera that the housing is in the submergedstate, the control unit switches said operation unit from a normaloperation in a non-submerged state to a non-normal operation fornotifying people around of the photographing in the submerged state, bycausing said operation unit to emit sound or visible light.
 2. Aportable electronic device including a housing provided with a camera toenable image capture, the housing including a submergence detecting unitconfigured to detect that the housing is in a submerged state, anoperation unit configured to operate at the time of photographing thatemits sound or visible light at the time of photographing using thecamera, and a control unit configured to control an operation of theoperation unit configured to operate at the time of photographingarranged therein, the portable electronic device being characterized inthat when the submergence detecting unit detects that the housing is inthe submerged state and a ratio of flesh-color part in a photographicsubject exceeds a predetermined value, the control unit switches theoperation unit configured to operate at the time of photographing from anormal operation in a non-submerged state to a non-normal operation fornotifying people around of the photographing in the submerged state. 3.The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein theoperation unit configured to operate at the time of photographing is aspeaker which emits sound at the time of photographing using the camera.4. The portable electronic device according to claim 2, wherein theoperation unit configured to operate at the time of photographing is aspeaker which emits sound at the time of photographing using the camera.5. The portable electronic device according to claim 3, wherein thecontrol unit makes shutter sound generated from the speaker at the timeof photographing using the camera, and sets greater sound volume in thenon-normal operation than in the normal operation.
 6. The portableelectronic device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit makesshutter sound generated from the speaker at the time of photographingusing the camera, and sets greater sound volume in the non-normaloperation than in the normal operation.
 7. The portable electronicdevice according to claim 3, wherein the control unit makes voiceannouncing the photographing generated from the speaker at the time ofphotographing using the camera in the submerged state.
 8. The portableelectronic device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit makesvoice announcing the photographing generated from the speaker at thetime of photographing using the camera in the submerged state.
 9. Theportable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the operationunit configured to operate at the time of photographing is a flashlightto be emitted at the time of photographing using the camera.
 10. Theportable electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the operationunit configured to operate at the time of photographing is a flashlightto be emitted at the time of photographing using the camera.
 11. Theportable electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the controlunit forces the flashlight to be emitted in the non-normal operation.12. The portable electronic device according to claim 10, wherein thecontrol unit forces the flashlight to be emitted in the non-normaloperation.
 13. The portable electronic device according to claim 2,wherein a plurality of colors are set as the flesh-color.
 14. A portableelectronic device including a housing provided with a camera to enableimage capture, the housing including submergence detecting means fordetecting that the housing is in a submerged state, operation means foroperating at the time of photographing that emits sound or visible lightat the time of photographing using the camera, and control means forcontrolling an operation of the operation means for operating at thetime of photographing, the portable electronic device beingcharacterized in that: when the submergence detecting means detects atsaid time of photographing using the camera that the housing is in thesubmerged state, the control means switches said operation means from anormal operation in a non-submerged state to a non-normal operation fornotifying people around of the photographing in the submerged state, bycausing said operation means to emit sound or visible light.